Albert edw



(No Model.)

WOOL?.v G GOUPLING.

No. 478,492. Patented July 5, 1892-.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.-

ALBERT EDW. VOOLE, OF NEW YORK, Y., ASSIGNOR TO ROSAMOND VOOLF ANDTHOMAS J. MONTGOMERY, OE SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 478,492, dated July 5,1892.

Application filed March 1l, 1892. Serial-No, 424,572. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be 4it known that l, ALBERT EDw. WooLF,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county ofNew York and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Car-Coupler; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspeciiication.

My invention relates to an improvement in car-couplings, and moreparticularly to those that are automatic.

The objects are, first, to attain increased strength and reduce thenumber of parts and cost of construction to a minimum; second, toprovide a coupling which will yield to the tendency of cars to swing andtwist and readily accommodate itself to cars of different heights in thecoupling operation; third, to provide one which will withstand strainwithout sustaining material damage orin anyway losing its originalstrength; fourth, to provide a coupling which may be readily applied toany car; fifth, to permit slack between the drawheads, whereby a longtrain may be started, and lastly, and above all,to provide a couplerwhich may be manipulated without the operator going between cars. Theseseveral objects are attained by thepeculiar features and combinations ofparts more fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a longitudinal section througha draw-head, showing the various parts of my invention, with acoupling-link in position. Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation, partlyin section. Fig. 3 is a view in longitudinal section, resembling Fig. l,except that two draw-heads are shown coupled together. Fig. 4 is an endelevation. Fig. 5 is a view in transverse section showing the slottedlocking-slide, and Fig. 6 a similar view with hand-operating mechanismattached. Fig. 7 represents a modified form, in which the old stylecoupling-pin and link is applied.

A represents a bell-mouth draw-headprovided internally with an enlargedcavity E, to which the converging walls of the bellmouth A lead. Thiscavity is much larger than the inner end of the bell-mouth, for apurpose which will Abe explained presently, and the rigid lip a, whichseparates the mouth from the cavity, is preferably rounded out, as shownin Figs. 5 and 6. The object of this construction is to form a socketfor an end of the double-headed or dumb-bell-shaped coupling-link B,which is naturally centered bythe converging walls of the bell-mouth,and iinallv reaches the socket formed, if the draw-heads come nearenough together.

(lo-operating with the parts described are two others, consisting of aslide C, operating in a vertical recess c, ,formed above the lip c, andagravity-drop D,hinged to the slide. The drop D hangs across the innerend or vertex of the bell-m0uth,thereby forming a yielding lip, whichco-operates with rigid lip a to hold the coupling-link in its socket. Itwill be observed that the forward Wall of the recess c forms a stop,which prevents the drop D from being swung outward,whereas on the otherhand the cavity E at the rear is large enough to permit the drop to beswungback instantly when struck by an approaching link, and that theweight of the drop is sufficient to cause it to drop back into place infront of the enlarged end of the link to hold the latter in place. Thedrop may be beveled on its forward lower edge to conform in shape to thebell-mouth and be beveled or rounded, if desired, to correspond with theshape ot' lip a, as shown in Fig. 5.

From the foregoing it is clear that upon one of the rounded or sphericalends of the coupling-link striking within the bell-mouth at any point itwill be guided to the position shown in Fig. l, the dropDbeing pushedmomentarily aside until the head passes behind l' it, when it will againassume its normal position and lock the link in its socket; but, owingto its construction and the aring shape of the bell-mouth and thepeculiar formation of the other parts, it will admit of great latitudeof movement in order to respond to the swinging and sudden jerking ofthe cars.

In addition to these features means are pro- IOO vided for uncouplingthe cars. As one of many eXpedients for eectually accomplishing this, Iprovide the slide C with a diagonally-disposed slot or groove c', andone, or better still, two bars or rods c2 c2 are passed endwise throughholes formed for them in the draw-head at either side of the slide. Apin c3 connects these bars or rods and passes through the slotjc2, asshown in Fig. 6. Alever G, fulcrumed at one side of the draw-head, has aslip or loose joint connection at g with this bar or bars, and in thismanner it is merely necessary to swing the lever back and forth to raiseor permit the slide to fall. When in the position shown in Fig. 6, theslide is ot course raised to its highest elevation. When the lever is atits opposite throw, the slide is locked in its depressed position. Sotouncouple the cars, it is simply necessary to swing the hand-lever in onedirection. As soon as the cars draw apart, the lever is thrown back andthe parts are ready to effect an automatic coupling.

To lessen the jar caused by the link striking the inner wall of thecavity E in the drawhead, and also to deaden sound as much as possible,a cushion or butter F, of elastic material-such as rubber or a spring-isplaced in the cavity, as shown in Fig. l.

In Fig. 7 a modification is shown in which the draw-head is providedwith a vertical hole to receive an old-style coupling-pin, so that anordinary link can be used in coupling with an old-style draw-head.

That a variety of slight changes might be resorted to is obvious. Forinstance, a chain might be used instead of the hand-lever, and the,shape and arrangement of the several parts comprising the couplingmight be largely altered without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention, and hence I do not wish to be limited to the preciseconstruction herein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a bell-mouthed draw-head, ofa slide loosely connected with the draw-head and a drop hinged to thedraw-head and located inposition to be pushed aside by the coupling-linkand constructed to drop back automatically into position to retain thelink in the drawhead, substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination, with a draw-head, of a slide, adrop hinged to the slide and located in position normally to be struckand pushed aside by a coupling-link upon passing into the draw-head, anda bar or bars having a loose sliding connection with the slide, wherebythe latter is moved by an endwise movement of the bar or bars,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a bell-mouthed draw-head having an enlargedcavity formed therein and a lip at the junction between the mouth andcavity, said lip rounded or concaved, the draw-head provided with arecess leading into the cavity approximately over the lip, the forwardedge of this recess 'forming a stop, of a slide located in the recess,and a drop hinged to the slide in position to extend across the throatot' the draw-head and be struck and pushed aside by an entering linkuntil the latter has passed into the cavity, after which the drop fallsinto place and locks the link in position, substantially as described.

it. The combination, with a draw-head,ot` a slide, a drop hinged theretoand adapted to automatically lock a link upon the latter passing intothe draw-head, the slide provided with a diagonal guide or slot, a baror bars having a pin which enters the slot, and a hand-lever orequivalent device connected with the bar or bars, whereby they are movedendwise, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a draw-head and link constructed substantiallyas described, of a gravity-drop and a movable support from which thedrop depends, as specified.

6. The combination, with a bell-mouthed draw-head having a cavity formedtherein, the latter having a cushioned inner wall, of a slide, means foroperating the latter, and a drop hinged to the slide and adapted tocooperate with the lip to hold a link, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' ALBERT EDW. WOOLF.

Witn esses:

ROBERT QUINLAN, CHAs. M. ROWLEY.

